This is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of design patent application Ser. No. 29/168,667 filed Oct. 4, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to writing implements and, more particularly, to a marker-style writing and drawing implement that is constructed of plural stackable and individually usable marker parts.
The instant inventors are aware of a pencil product with stackable parts and comprising a single outer barrel and individual, miniature round bodies, each supporting a sharpened pencil tip, which are stackable above one another, so that when a particular pencil tip becomes dull, it is removed from the writing end of the barrel and forcibly inserted through the rear opening of the barrel to push out another sharpened pencil tip. Conventional wisdom does not disfavor the stacking of pencil or even pen parts, inasmuch as the writing end of these parts are not subject to drying, if exposed to the environment over prolonged periods.
In marked contrast, marker products have constantly wetted felt or fabric tips, which must be quickly and hermetically sealed when the product is not in use, in order to avoid the drying up of the product, or rendering the product inoperable. Therefore, it has been deemed counterintuitive to provide stackable marker products, because they would require producing the individual components of a stackable marker with temporary caps that prevent drying until the products have been stacked together, after which the temporary caps would have to be thrown away. This results in the production of extra parts, unnecessary manufacturing steps and, therefore, an extra cost.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide stackable markers that provide the capability of assembling multiple color markers in a single, hand-held marker product.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a stackable marker product that can be easily and inexpensively produced.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a stackable marker that provides good sealing between the stackable markers, so as to prevent unnecessary evaporation of highlighter or ink formulations.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized with a stackable marker or a kit of individual marker products that can be stacked together to create a single utilitarian, hand-held marker that enables providing individual marker components, in different colors or different types of nibs or different types of writing characteristics.
More specifically, the invention is preferably directed to a stackable marker, a plural number of which can be combined to form a composite stacked marker. Each stackable marker component has a barrel with a first longitudinal opening and a second longitudinal opening and an interior space therebetween. The second longitudinal opening is sealed from the interior space by an interior wall with the space between the interior wall and the second longitudinal opening defining a receptacle for a cap of another stackable marker.
A marker filler is provided in the interior space on the other side of the interior wall and a marker nib penetrates through the first opening and is coupled to the filler and is held at the first opening by a nib retainer, with a portion of the nib protruding outwardly.
A utility nib cap is initially affixed to the barrel of each stackable marker during the manufacture or assembly thereof. That utility nib cap seals the protruding end of the nib to the barrel, protecting the nib against drying. The utility nib cap is so shaped and constructed, that when the stackable markers are thereafter intercoupled with one another, the insertion thereof into the receptacle of another stackable marker causes the utility nib to remain fixed in the other utility marker to subsequently form the cap for any stackable marker that is thereafter inserted therein.
The utility nib cap is so constructed and shaped, that the frictional holding force on the outer surface thereof, with the interior surface of the receptacle, causes it to be held therein, while the frictional force between the interior surface of the utility nib cap with the nib end of another marker is of lesser magnitude. Thereby, the composite stacked marker holds together firmly. But the stackable markers can nonetheless be pulled apart and reassembled as often as is desired or necessary.
The individual markers can have different marker formulations or be of different colors or of different characteristics. For example, a marker formulation that is capable of erasing other marks that are made with other types of markers can be provided.